Pax Ultima
by Clara Barton
Summary: They fought for peace, but peace took away what they loved the most. A very grim tale of suspense and betrayal, set post-canon and featuring character death.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I promised myself that I would update one chapter of Lost Dreams and one chapter of Pax Ultima, switching off. So no, I'm not abandoning Lost Dreams again so soon. I promise.

Warnings: Angst, violence, language, sex

Pairings: If you need to know, please PM me and I will be happy to tell you.

Chapter One

Wufei answered promptly, of course, as he always did.

His face froze.

"Trowa."

"Wufei."

They stared at each other, and despite the fact that it was costing three dollars a minute to make this call, Trowa thought it was worth it. He hadn't seen Wufei in two years, and even though he had committed his face to memory, it wasn't the same.

"You look like shit."

Trowa felt his lips twitch.

It had been a mistake to sleep with Wufei in the first place, but by the time Trowa figured that out they had been fucking for six months. They were too alike - possessive, passive aggressive and damaged beyond measure. They only differed in their tempers - Wufei was always so quick to angry, ready to jump to conclusions and commit himself whereas Trowa, according to Wufei, only roused himself to care when someone murdered his best friend.

It had been a mistake, but it had felt so damn good, they way Wufei would fight against him - kissing a battle and fondling more like hand to hand combat until Trowa finally had him bent over and Wufei gave in, surrendering when Trowa's cock filled him and his eyes lost their anger and turned glassy and together they were consumed.

It had been a mistake, but it was over now - had been for two years. That didn't mean Trowa didn't look at Wufei's mouth and remember how well he sucked cock.

"You look the same," he told Wufei, unable to compliment him but too tired to lie.

Wufei arched an eyebrow, clearly waiting for Trowa to get to the point of this call.

"I found him."

Wufei's eyes widened, then narrowed to dangerous black slits.

"Where?"

"I've got him with me - on M238X."

Wufei looked away from the call screen for a moment and Trowa could hear him typing.

"I'm on the next shuttle out. I'll be there in sixteen hours. Wait for me."

Trowa rolled his eyes at the command and was tempted _not _to wait, just because Wufei gave him the instruction.

"Trowa."

He met Wufei's dark gaze, saw the burning passion, the anger, the rage that he felt deep in his gut.

"I'll wait," he promised before disconnecting the call.

He stared at the black screen for a moment and then sighed.

Wufei would be here in sixteen hours. Trowa had waited two years for revenge - he could wait a few more hours.

He rose from the bed and walked to the open door of the bathroom and leaned against the frame and regarded the scene before him.

A chair sat in the narrow bathtub, a tight enough fit that it rocked awkwardly but Trowa had made sure it wasn't likely to fall over, out of the tub.

He regarded the chair's occupant, a naked man with his hands and feet tied to the chairs and a gag in his mouth and a blindfold over his eyes.

Blood ran down one side of his head, from the cut on his forehead that mirrored the one on Trowa's - headbutting was as likely to hurt you as your opponent, they had both learned the hard way. His nose was broken, another trail of blood leading downwards and staining the white undershirt Trowa's had ripped apart to use as a gag. One of his eyes was already red and swollen under the other strip of undershirt that covered his eyes.

Trowa turned on the shower, cranking the water to the coldest setting, and took grim satisfaction in the way the naked man jumped as icy needles hit his flesh.

He watched the water wash away the blood and soak the man's hair, until the long, heavy braid was plastered against his chest.

It was small, petty. The kind of torture you teased your victim with.

It would have to be enough for now - but as soon as Wufei arrived, Trowa would be free to make sure that Duo Maxwell understood just how much pain his body could withstand before he was allowed to die.

Trowa doubted it would be enough - _no_ amount of pain would be enough for Trowa to feel satisfied.

But he would be content, with whatever he and Wufei managed to inflict, because giving Duo a slow, painful death was the the least they could to avenge Heero Yuy.

-o-


	2. Chapter 2

Warnings: Angst, violence, language, sex

Pairings: If you need to know, please PM me and I will be happy to tell you.

Chapter Two

He was at a diner. Some cheap dive eating a cheap meal. Burned toast smeared with something brown, probably protein spread. Coffee black because he had never trusted the sweetness of sugar and didn't understand why people wanted creamer.

Sitting there. Eating. Alive and unconcerned that Trowa Barton walked into the diner with three knives, two guns and every intention of killing him.

Trowa sat down in the booth, across from him, and put his hands on the table.

Duo just grinned at him, took a moment to chuckle and then he continued eating.

Trowa waited until he finished and those seven minutes took more out of him than the last two years had.

Duo wiped his mouth with a napkin, took another sip of the coffee, draining it, and then wiped his mouth again before standing.

He stretched, long body and long limbs lean, just this side of malnourished, and he smirked at the way Trowa's eyes searched his body, checking for weapons, for weaknesses.

"If you're in the mood for a quick fuck, we can use the bathroom," Duo taunted him. "But if you want something more you're going to have to wait."

Trowa wasn't prepared to wait any longer than he already had.

He stood up, shoved a gun into Duo's spine hard enough to bruise and grabbed his hair tight enough to upset Duo's balance.

"Damn. You use this kind of foreplay with Wufei?" Duo leaned back, wiggled his ass against Trowa's groin and Trowa resisted the urge to kill him right there.

But it wouldn't be enough. Not nearly enough, not after what Duo had done. Not after what Trowa had lived through.

In the alleyway Duo fought, dirty and ruthless as always, and Trowa only just avoided a severed carotid and a perforated lung. But it was clear that Duo was tired, was weak and he was no match for Trowa's fury, for his determination and his need for vengeance.

The hotel was seedy enough that the proprietor only arched an eyebrow when Trowa carried in Duo's slumped body, one arm around his shoulders, limp feet dragging the ground.

He had more concern when Trowa came back a moment later and grabbed the folding chair by the front desk, but he remained silent.

Trowa stripped Duo with clinical detachment. He knew this man, knew this body, from years spent fighting together, working out together, showering side by side in the locker room and sharing private jokes in the med bay.

He made the knots tight, cutting into Duo's circulation and he left him on the chair, in the bathtub and he laid down on the bed in the next room and he felt a moment's peace for the first time in three years.

Not since before Catharine's death had he been able to close his eyes with ease. First it had been her, her face haunting him and then his, Heero's, the single, clean bullet hole in his temple and the dried, perfect circle of blood, the other half of his head, missing almost completely.

Trowa was used to death. He had grown up with it, he had perfected it. But that had been before, his previous life, his _job_. Catharine wasn't supposed to die. She was supposed to be the one who lived - the one who knew what peace tasted like so Trowa had a reason to keep fighting.

And Heero.

When Heero died, peace had ended for everyone. Not just for Trowa.

He had always known Duo was a thief, he'd never needed proof. Never wanted to have something so precious taken from him.


	3. Chapter 3

Warnings: Angst, violence, language, sex

Pairings: If you need to know, please PM me and I will be happy to tell you.

Chapter Three

"Should we dry him off?"

Trowa arched an eyebrow, let Wufei take in the scabs forming on his cheek, his lip, his forehead.

He tossed a towel at Wufei.

"Knock yourself out." He dared him.

Wufei gripped the towel tightly and then, with an irritated sigh, threw it at their soaked, shivering prisoner.

"How long have you had him in here?"

Trowa checked his watch.

"Twenty eight hours."

It was Wufei's turn to arch an eyebrow. It had only taken him sixteen hours to get there. The other twelve hours, hours when Trowa had stared at the naked man who had once been a friend, hours when Trowa had laid out his knives, the one from Heero, the one he had long ago filched from Catharine, the one he had taken from the dead body of the merc captain who had raised him, hours when Trowa had remembered Heero, alive, choosing Duo over him. Hours that were unaccounted for.

"He must be hungry," Wufei concluded and Trowa imagined that even Duo looked surprised by the words.

Trowa wasn't shocked by the swiftness of his anger.

If Duo was feeling a bit peckish after being tied to a chair for twenty eight hours it didn't fucking matter.

"Better for his stomach to be empty anyway," Trowa snarled. "Less of a mess when he finally goes."

Now it was Duo and Wufei who wore matching looks of deep concern about the fact that Trowa would know, would even consider it.

Wufei jerked his head, motioning for Trowa to join him outside of the bathroom and Trowa followed him reluctantly. What did it matter if they moved out of earshot? Soon enough, whatever Duo knew and heard, would be nothing.

"Can you do this?" Wufei asked him.

Trowa stared at him.

"Can I kill the man who murdered Heero? Yes. I can do that. Can you?"

Wufei scoffed. He always hated it when Trowa questioned him, despised it when his questions were turned back at him.

"Of course I can."

"Then what the fuck are we talking about?"

Wufei stared at him, dark eyes searching for something that Trowa knew he would never find.

"I want to know why he did it," Wufei finally said.

"He did it because he's a fucking psychopath," Trowa growled, furious at this delay. _This _was why he should never have called Wufei, should never had wasted those twelve hours before giving in and making the vid call. Wufei needed proof, needed to _know_. He needed reason and logic and Trowa knew there was none.

"You respected him, once," Wufei reminded Trowa softly, his words bringing back memories of chess games, late at night, on Peacemillion during the war, in the mess hall at Preventers headquarters after, in the med bay while they recovered from injuries sustained in the line of duty.

Yes. Trowa had respected him once. But that had been before.

"You never forgave him. I knew it."

Trowa closed his eyes. This was _not _the fucking time for this.

"Wufei -"

"You never understood why Heero chose him over you and that's what _this_ is about," Wufei snarled.

"This is about the fact that he murdered a man who saved _both_ of our lives more times than we can count." Twenty three times, by Trowa's estimation, if he considered specific incidents. But it was impossible to account for the impact Heero had had - on the Earthsphere, on peace, on the Preventers protocols. It was impossible to calculate his value.

"A man you never stopped loving."

Wufei's voice was raw and Trowa wanted to hurt him, wanted to yell and push and he wanted to be free of this shit - of the weight and the darkness but Wufei _never_ let him.

"You never forgave Duo for taking him from you the first time. You never forgave Heero for making the wrong choice. You've never forgiven yourself for not being there, not being the one with him, not being able to keep him alive. You wouldn't have murdered him, and you hate yourself because you weren't enough for him and he chose Duo."

This was the fight they had never had. The words that had driven Trowa to leave as soon as Heero's body was in the ground, as soon as the first data, the first ghost of Duo had been found. This was why Trowa had twelve hours, unaccounted for.

Because he needed Wufei to do this. Because he wasn't enough. He never had been, and he needed Wufei to help him kill Duo. Heero had chosen Duo, had chosen the man who killed him and Trowa was unable to take that away. He couldn't kill the man Heero had chosen.

Wufei touched him, his hands firm, his fingers warm and callused and the weight digging into his shoulders, reminding him to breathe.

"I want to know why he did it. And then I will kill him."

Wufei's eyes held his, forcing him to acknowledge the words, the weight, the darkness.

Trowa nodded.


	4. Chapter 4

Warnings: Angst, violence, language, sex

Pairings: If you need to know, please PM me and I will be happy to tell you.

Chapter Four

Wufei shed his jacket, revealing a form fitting, black mock turtleneck and Trowa had to stare.

It was his. Wufei preferred low necks - crew cuts and v-necks and when the Preventers had issued the back shirts Wufei had promptly cut off the necks and resewn them, ignoring Duo's jibes about being a good housewife. But Trowa had always liked the high necks, the tight fit, they way the shirt hid his scars and made him have to focus on breathing, sometimes, if the shirt had just been washed and was too tight.

Wufei returned his stare.

Trowa gave up. He had only ever understood Wufei when they were both naked and fighting for release. He never knew what he was thinking, what he was feeling unless he could touch his cock.

He walked back into the bathroom, sitting on the toilet so he was eye level with Duo and he ripped off the gag and the blindfold.

Duo blinked, wincing against the harsh light and his swollen eye and the blood that had dried since the last time Trowa had soaked him.

"Good to see you again," Duo quipped and Trowa punched him, lashing out fast enough to surprise both of them.

Duo rocked back with the force, the chair almost tipping over, and his head banged back against the shower wall.

He grinned, mouth and teeth and lips dark with blood, and spat a mouthful out into the bathtub.

"Didn't we just do this? Like yesterday?"

Trowa resisted the urge to hit him again. It was what Duo wanted, and he'd be damned if he gave Duo _anything_ else that he wanted.

"Nice shirt," Duo said, addressing Wufei, changing tactics, his target still Trowa.

Wufei sneered and Duo chuckled.

"D'you save it? Hide it from Tro when he packed his shit and came after me? Kind of funny, dontcha think? First Heero picks me and you get Tro, then _Tro_ picks me and you get -"

It was Wufei who attacked, shocking Trowa and clearly amusing Duo, who laughed once he regained his wind, recovered from the vicious kicks to his ribs and his groin.

"Fellas. I know you've wanted me for a _long_ time," Duo tried to slouch, tried to look seductive and impossibly managed to look it, tied up, naked, soaked and bleeding. "But let's take our time. I promise it's better if we draw it out a little. You know that Tro. You know how much Heero liked to take it slow - take his time with his fingers and -"

Trowa had to right the chair, had to balance the unconscious weight of Duo's body and his hands slipped and he dropped the chair again, where it had fallen over with the force of his blow the first time. Wufei had to help him stand it back up.

Trowa turned the shower back on, back to the coldest setting, and a moment later Duo jerked, alert and in pain.

"Why did you do it?" Wufei asked, his voice as cold and empty as space and Trowa resisted the urge to lean back, to lean against him, because that comforted him beyond measure.

"Do what?" Duo teased, tongue licking his lips before he spat out more blood. He shook his head, trying to move his wet bangs and Trowa saw him wince. He hoped he had a concussion, the kind of slow brain bleed that made thinking painful and his sight fuzzy.

"Why did you kill Heero Yuy?" Wufei ground out.

"Why d'ya think?" Duo smirked, leaning as far forward as his bonds would let him. He spat a mouthful of water and blood onto Trowa's face. "Wouldn't you like to know? Not much you ever did know, is there, Tro? Not much outside of military tactics. Sure as shit ya don't know about emotions. About life and fucking and how to make Heero -"

Wufei hauled him out of the room, slammed the bathroom door shut and shoved Trowa towards the bed.

"Breathe," Wufei instructed and his hands were on either side of Trowa's face, holding him, trapping him, forcing him to look in those bottomless black eyes that saw everything and _knew_ everything he had ever tried to hide.

"Fucking him isn't going to make him get it, Fei!" Duo shouted from the bathroom. "Maybe if you do it dry! Bend him over the desk and shove it up his ass and make him cry!"

Wufei stepped away, went back into the bathroom and Trowa listened to the roar of his blood, felt his lungs struggle to draw in oxygen. There was the sound of a body hitting the tub, the chair a harsh thud, Duo swearing and laughing.

"Put your fucking hands up."

Trowa felt his entire body tense, felt his blood freeze and his stomach clench.

"Fucking do it, Trowa."

He complied and turned, slowly, wishing he didn't have to see it.

Duo stood in the door to the bathroom, one arm wrapped around Wufei's neck, the other holding Wufei's service revolver against the Preventer's head. There was blood on Duo's face, on his wrists and ankles and the hand holding the gun but his voice was steady, his eyes deadly.

"That your kit, Wufei?" Duo asked, nodding towards the black duffel bag on the bed.

Wufei remained silent and Duo dug his fingers into his neck, a pressure point that _Wufei_ had shown him once, years ago, when working out at the gym together had been the only way to stay sane.

"Yes," Trowa answered for him.

Duo smirked, his teeth red.

"Grab the zip ties."

Trowa complied without argument.

"Do your feet first. Then your hands - behind your fucking back."

Trowa fumbled, clumsy with fear and his eyes burned but he followed the orders.

Duo pulled back the gun and then hit Wufei with enough force to knock him out before binding him as well.

Trowa watched, unable to process just how fucked up this had become.

Duo dumped out the duffel bag, set the gun down and pulled on the clothes, the spare Preventers uniform that Wufei had packed, and then grinned when he found a laptop.

"Well, looks like I didn't waste my time with you after all," Duo muttered and blew Trowa a kiss, a spatter of blood flying in his direction.

Duo spent a good half hour tapping at the keys and by the time he was done Wufei was rousing, shifting, testing his bonds.

"Well, this has been a _lot_ of fun. I keep saying we should have a reunion or something but I dunno, you two just don't… you're just not the type of assholes I'd like to spend my time with these days."

Duo leveled the gun at Wufei and Trowa reacted without thought, throwing his body down on the other man.

Duo's blue eyes narrowed and he swallowed hard before looking away.

"Yeah, you two take care now."

And with that, he was gone.


	5. Chapter 5

Warnings: Angst, violence, language, sex

Pairings: If you need to know, please PM me and I will be happy to tell you.

Chapter Five

"Hold still."

Trowa smoothed back Wufei's hair and dabbed at the cut on his forehead with a wet towel. Wufei winced and tried to flinch away again, but Trowa tightened his grip on his jaw to keep him in place.

Wufei's dark eyes were narrowed and filled with anger and self-recrimination.

The cut would need stitches, but Trowa doubted Wufei had thought to bring a first aid kit with him.

"When you get back to Earth get this looked at," he instructed.

Wufei's dark glare shifted to him.

"I'm not going back."

Trowa stared.

Two years ago Wufei had called him an idiot, a blind fool setting off on a suicide mission.

"You said no," Trowa reminded him.

"That was before," Wufei growled.

Trowa gentled his grip on Wufei's face, ghosted his fingers across his cheek and Wufei leaned into the touch.

It wasn't the right time, sure as hell wasn't the right place - but then, it never was for them.

"I don't have any lube," Trowa told him.

"Then go slow," Wufei ordered.

Trowa hadn't fucked anyone in two years, not since leaving Wufei to search for Heero's murderer, and the memory of Wufei's body, his embrace, had haunted Trowa since.

He stripped him with care, avoiding the wound on his head and the red, swollen skin on his side where Duo had clearly injured him.

Wufei's body was the same dangerous, lean weapon it had always been. Golden and taunt, his hips sharp and his muscles tense.

Trowa pulled his own clothes off carelessly, tossing them on the floor and then picking Wufei up, and pushed him against the nearest wall.

Wufei wrapped his legs around Trowa's hips, hitching himself up and they kissed.

It was the same war between them, the same battle for control they had been fighting since their first kiss, that first fight when Wufei called him an idiot and suggested he get the fuck over Heero Yuy because Heero had clearly gotten over him.

Wufei's hands clenched around his shoulders, fingers digging into his flesh and Trowa accepted it, the discomfort and the pain. It was never easy with Wufei.

He used spit to prepare him, teasing his rim and then forcing first one, then two fingers into his tight entrance.

Wufei hissed in pain when Trowa replaced the fingers with his cock and Trowa tried to go slow, tried to take his time sinking into that hot, tight sheath.

"Hold still," he ordered when Wufei shifted, heels digging into Trowa's ass and pulling him in further.

"Just fuck me already," Wufei snapped and Trowa let his anger, his always present rage, take over and he thrust upwards, sharp and deep and Wufei swore.

Trowa continued, merciless, burying himself inside Wufei until he came, until he fight the spasm of Wufei's own climax and felt the hot spill of his release.

Even then, it wasn't enough.

He held Wufei against him, tried not to let his despair show in his face.

"I'm not going anywhere," Wufei told him, knowing. Always knowing.

Trowa leaned his forehead against Wufei's and he closed his eyes and tried not to think about Duo leveling a gun at Wufei, tried to forget the fear that had nearly paralyzed him.


	6. Chapter 6

Warnings: Angst, violence, language, sex

Pairings: If you need to know, please PM me and I will be happy to tell you.

Chapter Six

"He spent half an hour on my computer and did nothing."

Trowa looked over at Wufei, naked except for his boxers and sitting cross-legged on the bed.

"He spent half an hour on it. He did _something_."

Wufei looked up from his laptop to scowl at Trowa.

"He didn't access any of my files. Nothing on the Preventers server. He didn't _do_ anything."

"Let me see."

Wufei heaved an angry sigh.

"Your computer skills almost exactly match mine. If _I_ can't find his activity, you won't either. Only -" Wufei caught himself.

"Only Heero was better at hacking than Duo?" Trowa supplied.

Wufei shoved the laptop at him, half in apology, half in a non-verbal 'fuck off'.

"He didn't access anything," Trowa agreed ten minutes later.

"Thank you for that confirmation. It's a good fucking thing I had you here to tell me what I already -"

"No," Trowa interrupted him, tuning out the start of Wufei's rant. "He didn't access any of _your_ files or anything from the Preventers server - but he accessed something."

He turned the computer so that Wufei could see the data log.

"A remote server?"

"Yes - and look at the amount of data he downloaded. He left _something_ on your computer."

Wufei took it back, handling it with care, as though it were a bomb that could explode at any minute. Considering that it had been Duo who had tampered with it, Trowa wasn't willing to rule out that possibility.

"Don't open it," Trowa warned when Wufei's fingers rested on the keys.

Wufei glared at him.

"Again. Thank you for reminding me how to use my brain," he snarled.

Trowa sighed. The blissful reprieve they experienced after sex had faded an hour ago, and he had been treated to Wufei's typical passive-aggressive bullshit since then.

"I recognize that server address," Trowa said and frowned, trying to recall _how_ he knew it.

"It's a WEI server," Trowa realized.

Wufei arched an eyebrow.

"Duo accessed one of Quatre's servers to download a virus onto my computer?"

"I don't know."

Duo could have used any server to do that - could have just coded one in the time he took to download whatever he had from the remote server. Why Quatre?

"He's planning something," Wufei decided. "Something that involves Quatre."

"Why would he leave us that clue?"

"What if he didn't intend to?"

Trowa arched an eyebrow. Duo might appear careless, but Trowa was willing to bet their entire encounter had been calculated. It filled him with cold fury, to know that Duo had used him - used him to get to Quatre.

"I should warn him."

Wufei sighed.

"I have a friend who can look over this and tell me what it is."

"You mean you fucked someone who can look at it," Trowa translated.

Wufei glared.

"I wasn't a virgin when we met, Barton, and neither were you."

A fair point, but Trowa wasn't running to a former lover for help. And Trowa wasn't the one Duo had pointed a gun at.

"If you tell me to be careful I will rip your arm off and beat you to death with it," Wufei warned.

Trowa had to work to keep from smiling.

"You can try," he said once he could keep his face straight.


End file.
